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| Politics Forum Index » Democrats (House) Politics Forum » New Tax Cheat Bill from… Charlie Rangel?... |
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| Leroy N. Soetoro... |
 Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:53 pm |
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http://themoderatevoice.com/51150/new-tax-cheat-bill-from-charlie-rangel/
When I read this item at Politico over coffee this morning, I had to
double check and see if I hadn’t inadvertently followed a link to The
Onion. A new bill is being introduced which would make it far more
difficult for people to hide their assets in foreign banks to avoid paying
taxes on the money. Good idea! But it’s being introduced, in part, by
Charlie Rangel. (I’ll give you a moment to read a portion of the linked
article while you stop gagging.)
The “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009” — introduced by Baucus
and Rangel in conjunction with the Obama administration — would mandate
Individuals with offshore accounts provide details and list them on tax
returns. Rules governing trusts would be “significantly strengthened” to
prevent the true beneficiaries from hiding front entities.
“This bill offers foreign banks a simple choice – if you wish to access
our capital markets, you have to report on U.S. account holders,” said
Rangel, in a statement posted on the committee’s homepage. “I am confident
that most banks will do the right thing and help to make bank secrecy
practices a thing of the past.”
There are two portions to this story which should be of interest. First,
there’s the idea of the bill itself. I’m not sure how much additional tax
revenue will be generated for the public coffers from this, should it be
passed, but that’s really not the point. Legislation like this would be a
good step toward increasing confidence among Americans that the government
is actually interested in a level playing field. There has long been a
perception (and probably more than a grain of truth) among the hoi polloi
that the rich have access to “more justice” than the common person. If we
make a math error and under report our income by a couple thousand
dollars, we know that the IRS will come down on us with a heavy hammer to
collect the taxes along with penalties and fees. But we also suspect that
the very rich are privy to tricks and cons which allow them to tuck away
more money than we will earn in our lifetimes and pay no taxes on it. A
bill like this could provide more psychological comfort to the masses than
actual tax revenue, but it’s still worthwhile.
But the strange part is, why would the Democrats allow Charlie Rangel to
introduce it? He’s in the middle of an investigation for outrageous tax
cheating incidents himself and has become the butt of more jokes than we
could count on the Hill. Surely somebody could have realized just how bad
the optics of this are. Who’s going to introduce the Senate version? Chris
Dodd?
We shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water, though. Let’s be
clear… this isn’t a case of the Obama administration wanting to crack down
on foreign investments by American companies. (Which I’ve already stated
we also need to do.) This would apply to a simple case of Americans hiding
money in foreign banks for the express purpose of avoiding taxes which
they know they should be paying. And I hope that my conservative and
Republican friends won’t find some reason to oppose this just because it
was proposed by Obama and the Democrats.
But seriously… Charlie Rangel? Really?
--
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
Rangel's tax evasion. |
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